


Five Times Sam Talked to Runner Five

by CinderScoria



Series: her name is jade [4]
Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-04-09 17:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4358312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinderScoria/pseuds/CinderScoria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>... and one time she talked to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Sam Talked to Runner Five

“So what’s the deal with that Power Rangers watch?” Sam asked one run. Five gave the next camera a rather rude gesture, which made Sam chuckle. “I’m not judging you, I promise! Just a little curious.”

She didn’t answer, of course, but that was fine by Sam. Two weeks in and he’d gotten used to her expressions and gestures as way of communication. It wasn’t like Sara’s dry wit or Simon’s ridiculous jokes, but somewhat comforting all the same. 

“‘Cause, y’know, we get Power Rangers much later than the States,” he continued. “I wasn’t really one for it, anyway, but I do remember one series… Time Force, I think. Which is the same one on your watch, isn’t it?”

One of the cameras caught the small smile that flickered on Five’s face as she passed. Sam always felt a great sense of accomplishment whenever he made her smile. She didn’t smile as often as she should. Zombie apocalypse or otherwise, she was far too bitter for a teenager.

“I asked around,” he continued, gnawing on his lip. “And Jack and Eugene really delivered. We have a few series of Power Rangers on DVD. Nothing complete, just a few episodes scattered throughout the years, but we could watch them when you get back. If you want.”

Full blown, legitimate smile. She actually seemed happy for a second. Sam took that as a yes.

-

**II**

Sam was jolted awake by the knocking on his door. This was never good news. He considered pretending to sleep through it in the hopes that whoever was knocking would go again, but the knocking persisted. It wasn’t the brisk, purposeful rap Janine had, nor the polite prodding of Maxine. If anything, this knock felt hesitant, uncertain, light as if waking him was the last thing they wanted to do.

He sighed and got up to open the door. Outside stood Runner Five, dressed in her sleeveless black top and loose pajama bottoms. Her hair was pulled into a puffy ponytail restrained by a headband and she was glasses-less, peering at him from surprisingly shy Asian eyes. 

“Hi, Five,” Sam said, going for surprised but just sounding tired. “What are you doing up?”

She blinked owlishly at him and pursed her lips. Her arms were wrapped around herself, which drew Sam to the conclusion that she was cold. 

“Oh,” he said with a frown. “Of course, you must be bloody freezing. Sorry, come on inside, we’ll get you warmed up.”

Five shuffled inside with a sullen expression. Sam kept a smile to himself. She was a tough nut to crack, but he was flattered she trusted him enough to come to him when she had a problem. It was December, after all, and if she’d come unprepared then he was going to help her.

He gave her his blanket and slipped a sweatshirt over his own head before sitting her down on his bed. She stared at him as he crossed the room to the bookshelf and grabbed one.

“Hope you like  _A Wrinkle in Time,”_ he said dryly. “Pretty much the only fiction novel we have.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, which usually meant she thought he was being funny. Sam sat back down on his bed. “Yeah, I know, but I figure if anything gets me to fall asleep it’d be a boring ol’ classic novel.”

That earned him a gentle slap on the arm. Sam grinned. “Ooh, Runner Five, are you a closet bookworm?”

Wry twist of the lips. Sam translated that as, “Not so closet.” He chuckled and opened the book. “That’s fine. You’ll enjoy this then. Go to sleep, Five.”

She nodded. He started to read, and barely got through the first chapter before she was slumped onto his shoulder, dead to the world.

-

**III**

"I don’t know how to do this,” Sam complained, fiddling with the sections of hair with his fingers. “It’s been a while, all right?”

Five shot a short glare over her shoulder. He laughed softly. “My sister didn’t let me touch her hair after the age of seven, you know. I suppose it’s like riding a bike, eh? ‘Cept a bicycle’s not nearly as complicated as braiding.”

She smiled at him in the mirror, a teasing smile he interpreted easily. He gave a mock scowl back at her. “Yes, well, I’m not Maxine now am I? You can’t compare me to another woman. You two could be sisters, you know.”

He ran the brush through the curls and separated them. “My sister doesn’t have near as much hair as you,” he commented. “I mean, half Chinese, half English, so there you go. No curls to speak of. Just messy black pin straight strands.

“She’s about your age, you know. Little older. You’d like her, though, I think. She had an odd sense of humor too.” Five stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed, fingers working deftly as he strung together the braid. “Sorry, but it’s true! For someone who can’t talk you sure pack a lot of sarcasm. She was like that too, very caustic sometimes but… well. Suppose eventually she had a reason to be. Zombies, and all that. Wish I’d gotten the chance to braid her hair one last time.”

Five’s eyes met his in the mirror. They were about the same shape, both being Asian-based almond eyes. Sam quirked a smile at her and grabbed the hair tie, fastening the braid at the end and dropping it onto her shoulder.

“Good enough?” he said with a grin.

Five turned and patted it down before jumping up and giving him a matching grin. She pecked him on the cheek and slid on her headset before turning to him and raising her eyebrows.

Sam smiled at the familiar ritual. “Yeah, yeah. Good luck on your run, Runner Five. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

She gave him a salute and jogged towards the gates while Sam turned to set up his station. He wasn’t quite Maxine, who knew four different types of braids and had no insecurities about doing them on Five, but it was nice to know his Runner trusted him. Even if it was for nothing but a hairstyle.

-

**IV**

“Five,” Sam said, rapping his knuckles on her door. “Hey, Five, you awake?”

The door opened and Five stood there looking irritated and sleep deprived. Sam grinned at her. “So you like stars, right?”

That got an intrigued brow furrow from her. “You go for night walks sometimes,” he said, shrugging. “I see you looking at them. C’mon, I wanna show you something.”

He took her by the hand and pulled her out of her room, leading her down the hallway and to the stairs. Sam had stumbled onto this quite by accident, exploring with Jack that day the radio equipment got an upgrade as a peace offering from New Canton. It led to the roof, naturally. Sam suspected Five already knew about it, but that wasn’t what he wanted to show her.

“Sara and Simon came back from a supply run with this,” he said as they climbed the stairs. “Simon insisted on lugging it in as a joke, I suspect, but I figured you’d appreciate it more.”

He reached the door to the roof and stood back with a flourish, gesturing for her to go first. Five’s left eyebrow climbed, a look he was used to by now. He prodded her forward and she opened the door, climbing the last few steps to the roof.

The warm summer air made for ideal stargazing weather, Sam noted as he joined her at the center of the roof. Five stared, mouth parted in an expression he’d never seen on her. Shock. Pure, unadulterated, giddy shock. Sam grinned. “You like it?”

Five released the breath she’d been holding and ran her hand along the telescope’s aluminum frame. She grinned and huffed out a disbelieving laugh, turning to give him the megawatt flash of teeth he’d come to treasure from her. 

“Good!” Sam took off his glasses so he could peer through the lens. “It’s still mostly intact, which is incredible. I’d have shown it to you sooner, but this is the first clear night we’ve had all week.”

She nudged him out of the way so she could look. Sam puffed with pride, happy he’d done something good for his friend. “Did you know,” he said as he tilted his head back, “I used to be quite the astronomer when I was little. Might’ve gone into that field if my parents hadn’t approved of it. Bit ridiculous of me, I know, but I hit the rebellious stage early.”

Five took her face from the eyepiece so she could roll her eyes at him. He barked out a surprised laugh. “I really don’t think you’re one to talk, Five, considering you’re, what, ten?”

She flipped him off and went back to looking through the telescope, swiveling it around so she could point it towards the moon. She grabbed his sleeve and all but shoved him towards the telescope, pointing in excitement. Sam looked through it and saw that she’d sought out Venus. 

“The Evening Star,” he said wryly, taking his eyes from the lens. “Did you know, in Roman mythology the planet Venus was considered the pinnacle of perfection and beauty because every eight years the planet’s orbit makes a near-perfect pentagram in the sky? They coordinated the Olympic Games according to it.”

Five smirked at him. “Yes, I am a nerd, do not judge me,” Sam said, wrinkling his nose at her. “I’ve got plenty of other stories for you if you want to hear them.”

She shrugged. “All right then,” he said, arching his eyebrows at her, “do you know the story of Orion? You know the constellation, I’m sure…”

He talked and Five looked through the telescope and they might have been barely surviving in a world overrun by zombies but, at least for one night, everything felt pretty damn perfect. 

-

**V**

Sam sucked down gulps of air as he sprinted through Abel. His headphones still hung around his neck, the wire unplugged and trailing behind him. He nearly crashed into Janine on the way to the gates before she grabbed his arms and forced him to a stumbling stop.

“Mr. Yao!” she snapped, but he talked over her.

“I’m sorry, Janine, but now is not the time, I have to get to—”

“Runner Five is  _fine,_  Mr. Yao,” Janine said. Her voice might have been comforting if it wasn’t spoken with such a clipped edge. “She was taken to the hospital. Maxine is looking over her now.”

"Thanks, Janine,” Sam breathed, giving her a swift kiss on the cheek.

“Mr. Yao!” she sputtered, but he was already heading in the opposite direction.

“Maxine!” he hollered as he crashed through the doors. “Maxine, where—”

“Sam!” Maxine said, turning the corner. He stopped and panted and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Where’s… Five?” he managed.

She gave him a wan smile. “She’s resting. She’s exhausted after we ran her into the ground.”

“I know,” he said. His voice shook, even around the ragged breathing. “I heard her collapse, I saw her—where is she? Can I see her?”

Maxine nodded. “This way.”

Sam followed, fretting, thankful that Maxine was still on duty and all right considering what just happened. He’d probably be in the same position if Five hadn’t escaped. Even then she’d been sent cross country, not at home, safe, resting. Sam had argued and shouted and swore but he couldn’t get Five the reprieve she needed. She’d been running nonstop for  _days._ If he wasn’t so worried about her now he’d be frothing at the mouth with rage.

“I’d say try not to wake her up,” Maxine said as she stopped by a door, “but I don’t think even an explosion would faze her. And Sam—” She gave him a hard look. “Do not stay up longer than necessary to make sure you’re awake when she is. I know you, and you’re no Aquaman.”

Sam’s answering smile was a bit watery and tremulous. Maxine ran a hand through his hair affectionately and left him alone.

He opened the door. Five was passed out in the bed, her glasses on the side table next to her. Her hair was still in its braid, which sent a small spurt of pride through him as he pulled the chair closer to the bed.

“Hi, Five,” he said, and snickered at his traditional greeting. She would’ve rolled her eyes at that. He bit his lip. “I’m sorry. I should’ve paid better attention. I should’ve gotten you out. I know, doctors first… always, but…”

He put his face in his hands and exhaled. “Janine keeps telling me there was nothing that could’ve been done,” he said slowly. “And I know that. I do. But, Five, you’re just a kid. You should’ve had someone else with you. You should’ve been protected. You deserve that. And I failed you.”

Sam lifted his head and studied her slack face. She looked so much younger sleeping. Her eyes weren’t pinched, her lips weren’t pursed. The faded brown scars still raised from the skin on her neck but he’d come to admire them, admire the fact that she’d survived when she could’ve simply given up and let go. He’d heard her shocked intake of air when Van Ark stood again, the knowledge that immortality was possible and that he could give it to her. She could’ve given up then. She could’ve given up any time after that. She didn’t.

“I promise,” he said, and his voice didn’t tremble for once, “that he will  _never_ get his hands on you again. I swear, Five. Not while I’m alive.”

He watched her breathe until he fell asleep with his head on the bed, so he didn’t feel when she reached out and took his hand.

-

**(+I)**

Sam waited for Runner Five in their spot on the roof. It was November again, which meant icy wind and thunderstorms and possible chance of snow. Tonight, though, was a clear night, the sun not quite set and washing Abel in reds and yellows and oranges. Five loved sunsets more than she loved stars, which was why he told her to meet him here, now, after the party wound down. 

She shuffled up to him. He didn’t jump this time—the girl had an unnerving ability to sneak up on people, quiet as she was—and waited till she sat down next to him to speak.

"Sorry I wasn’t at the party, Five. I had something special in mind, and I was… practicing.”

Five gave him a bemused smile. A year before, Sam wouldn’t have imagined she  _could_  smile, let alone that he could elicit that reaction from her. They’d been through a lot. More than they deserved, her and him, but then again that was probably why they were so close.

“So,” he started off nervously, “as adept as I am interpreting your expressions, there are times I wish we could just… just talk, you and me, y’know?”

Five nodded, looking wary. Sam pressed his lips together. “Um, so, I saw you with Greg a few months ago, and how excited you were that he knew sign language, so I dug around a bit and… well, it might be better if I just showed you.”

He lifted his hands and watched as her eyes grew round and her jaw slackened. Sam grinned.  _“I’m not very good signing,"_ he signed,  _"but this way we can talk.”_

She pointed at him.  _“ASL?"_

Sam nodded and her face split into a grin.  _"ASL is not BSL,"_ she signed, and Sam shrugged modestly.

 _"I learned on ROFFLENet,"_ he said, stumbling a bit over the finger spelling.  _"Thought it would be easier for you.”_

Five’s face split into a full grown ecstatic grin and, before Sam could react, threw herself at him. Sam caught her half in his lap as she crushed him fiercely to her, breathing hard into his shoulder. It took Sam a second to realize she was crying, tears of relief and giddy happiness. 

 _“We’re talking!"_ she said as she pulled away.  _"Talking! You and me!”_

 _“I know!"_ Sam laughed.  _"I want to know everything about you. You can tell me now, we can talk. But go slow, okay? I’m only first year.”_

Five talked. She talked about her life in Seattle, her split family and many, many siblings, about how she was visiting her father in England when the attack happened, about how Mullins found her and saved her with the exception of her voice. She talked about how she used to sing and how she loved to write, about how she never liked running but now can’t feel alive without it, about her insomnia and frustration at not being able to talk. 

They talked until the sun went down and they talked well into the night by the light of the full moon. And when they finally called it a night Five hugged him to her tightly and assigned him a name sign—an S at the corner of her mouth, for  _smile._

**Author's Note:**

> this is... probably my most popular fic on tumblr. I wrote it for a request from a nonny--still shocks me it got such a response lol.


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